Same as i_stole_ur_taco. The brand I buy is “20 Mule Team” and it’s advertised as a detergent booster. The only ingredient is sodium tetraborate.

We sprinkle a line of food-grade diatomaceous earth outside right next to each of our doors, so the outside ants would have to cross it to get inside.

We also got a plate that’s larger than our pet’s food bowl. We put diatomaceous earth on the plate and then put the pet bowl on top of that.

Finally we put out a borax-sugar solution. I drilled some ant-sized holes in the side of several plastic containers that have tight lids (we have an indoor bunny and I didn’t want her getting into the borax even though it shouldn’t be enough to affect her). I soak cotton balls in the borax solution, put them in the plastic containers, and place the containers along any ant trails I notice.

Borax solution: 1 cup warm water, 5 Tbsp + 1 tsp white/caster sugar, 1 Tbsp borax. Mix until dissolved.

Mine are all in the ground

I’ll have to try the cinnamon next year. I ended up sprinkling diatomaceous earth around the bottom of it and that seemed to help. But I’m not sure how often a monarch caterpillar might move to another plant so I was worried the DE may harm them too.

Some of the plants do have aphids, but not all my plants with ants on them had aphids (at least that I could find). I know ants will sometimes carry aphids, so maybe they were scouting out new plants?

The little black specks look like thrip poop.

Best chance to get rid of them is probably to smother them in some way. Neem oil or liquid soap mixed in water and sprayed on the plant, or sprinkling the plant and soil with diatomaceous earth are probably what I would try first.

For the neem oil or liquid soap, it’s usually something between 2-5 mL (0.5-1 teaspoon) mixed in 1 L water.

Thanks! They’re growing in my vegetable garden but as long as my strawberries don’t look too stressed I’ll try watering that area less.

I’ll check around for aphids too. Our trash cans are on the other side of the house

I wonder if it’s a Gaillardia species or something related to an oxeye daisy - the leaf clasping a “branch” as it shoots off the stem reminds me of them

Did you buy it as seeds or a plant, or did it come up on its own? You are right, this don’t appear to be an Asclepias species, which typically have single leaves that come directly off the stem.

Oregano, tarragon, mint and thyme. My family and our pet rabbit enjoy them.